Submissions

Author Guidelines

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission’s compliance with all of the items in the checklist, and submissions may be returned to authors who do not adhere to these guidelines.

1. Format & Style. Manuscripts should be in upper and lower case, double-spaced, with 1” margins on all sides. They should be in MS Word, or RTF format. Submissions must follow the style outlined in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2019, 7th edition)—available from the American Psychological Association, Order Department, P.O. Box 2710, Hyattsville, MD 20784. You can also access this information at the Purdue Online Writing Lab site.

2. Author Identification. The complete title of the article and the name of the author(s) should appear only on the title page to ensure anonymity in the review process. The manuscript itself should have no author names but may carry a short title (running head) at the top of each page. Information in text or references that would identify the author must be deleted from the manuscript (e.g., text citations of “my previous work,” especially when accompanied by a self-citation; the author’s own work in the reference list). These may be reinserted in the final draft. The author’s name should be removed from the document’s Properties, which in Microsoft Word is found in the File menu.

3. Length. Manuscripts for the featured articles section should typically run between 5,000 to 10,000 words, not including the reference list. Manuscripts for the Voices from the Field section should typically run between 2,500 and 6,500 words.

4. Notes & References. Notes are for explanations or amplifications of textual material. A reference list contains only references that are cited in the text. Its accuracy and completeness are the responsibility of the author(s). Please adhere to APA 7th edition publication guidelines for all notes and references.

Please reference the APA_Quick_Citation_Guide when preparing your manuscript.

5. Tables, Figures, & Multimedia

• Tables and Figures. The purpose of tables and figures is to present data to the reader in a clear and unambiguous manner. The author should not describe the data in the text in such detail that illustration or text is redundant. Figures and tables should be noted in the text and attached as separate documents, if possible. Tables and charts should be submitted in a separate document from the manuscript.  Do not include any identifying information in this document or in the document file name.
• Images. You are encouraged to submit images along with your manuscript; however, please ensure that you have (or will) secure copyright protection for all images. The Journal of Language and Literacy Education cannot aid in, or financially contribute to, the procuring of copyright.
• Videos. Authors may choose to upload video files to a public online video site such as YouTube or Vimeo and insert the embed code in the manuscript. All videos should be referred to in the text as Video 1, Video 2, etc. Authors must provide a link to the video within the article. This link could be a text link (e.g., Video 1) or a still frame fr om the video (i.e., a .GIF, .PNG or .JPG file). Authors should be careful to remove any identifying information within the video itself, the title of the video, and/or the uploading channel name on YouTube or the producer name on Vimeo.
• Audio files. Audio files must also be submitted in a web-optimized format in either Windows Media, Real, or Quicktime formats. Audio files should be identified in the text as Audio 1, Audio 2, etc., and audio filenames should include the corresponding audio numbers. Authors must provide a link to the audio within the article. This link could be a text link (e.g., Audio 1) or a related graphic.

6. Language. We cannot publish any material that has been previously published in print or electronic form. Please do not submit material to other publishers while your manuscript is under consideration for the Journal of Language and Literacy Education. All authors should use non-discriminatory and unbiased language in their manuscripts. See APA guidelines for reducing bias in language.

7. Pronouns. When submitting your manuscript for review, please be sure to use the pronouns that all cited authors and participants use to refer to themselves.

8. Review and Revision Process. We will acknowledge receipt of all manuscripts by email. The Journal of Language and Literacy Education is refereed, and once a manuscript has been received, the editorial staff will determine if the piece will be sent out for review, the exception being invited manuscripts. All manuscripts chosen for review are read by a minimum of two reviewers. We will attempt to reach a decision on each article within three months.

9. Research Guidelines & Ethics. For authors submitting work that relies on human subjects, reporting verbatim what other people have produced in writing, speech, or other texts: During the submission process, you will be asked to share the name of the Institutional Review Board that has granted approval for your study, the approved protocol number, and confirmation that your participants have consented to be a part of the study. 

For authors submitting autoethnographic pieces: Many scholars have written about the complicated nature of ethics in publishing autoethnographies (Edwards, 2021; Ellis, 2007; Tullis, 2021). At JoLLE, we ask that authors explicitly address the ethical implications of their work when submitting pieces that fall in this category.